Date Posted: April 30, 2009
The important planetary event for May (actually it began on April 29) is the transit of Jupiter in sidereal Aquarius. Jupiter will stay in Aquarius till August 2, and then, with its retrograde motion, it will return to Capricorn . It will then stay in Capricorn till December 18, 2009 before reentering the sidereal Aquarius. Jupiter’s transit from one zodiac sign to the next occurs, on average, once a year. Aquarius being flexible and air sign ruled by Saturn, Jupiter in Aquarius has a tendency to enhance intellectual and philosophical qualities of those who have well placed and connected Saturn and Jupiter in their birth charts while others likely to experience the challenges that will keep them from intellectually growing. In general, transit of Jupiter in Aquarius is positive. Spiritual and intellectual growth around the world is likely to expand. (It must be noted that despite Jupiter’s positive influence on world spirituality, effects of other planets should be taken into account to assess the net effect on world growth). In addition, the influence of contemporary philosophers on society will significantly shape the future direction of our social evolution through the philosophical and metaphysical debates. In general, in Aquarius Jupiter is known to be responsible for world spiritual and intellectual expansion. So from that perspective expect some positive spiritual changes during this period and welcome the Jupiter’s entry in Aquarius.
As pointed out in last month’s column, one of the important planetary events for 2009 is the transit of the modern planet Uranus from (sidereal) Aquarius to Pisces occurring on April 2. Uranus will stay in Pisces till October 12, 2009, and then with its retrograde motion returns to Aquarius and remains in Aquarius till January 20, 2010. After January 20, 2010, it will reenter Pisces and stay in Pisces for the next 7 years (2016/17).
Uranus, being the planet of change, will certainly affect the matters related to Pisces sign in a big way. Pisces is a mutable water sign. It’s a very emotional and spiritual sign ruled by the planet Jupiter. Some of the unique characteristics of Uranus include: unorthodox, skeptical, extremely independent minded, brilliant, innovative, unyielding until fully convinced, standing up for oppressed or those who can not defend themselves. As a result, Uranus’s transit through Pisces will be responsible for transforming the world in which the morality and spirituality will evolve to meet the social needs of the twenty first century. Typically Uranus, the unconventional and forceful planet, brings about the transformation in a painful manner. As a result, there will be a severe crisis in the religious world before the transformation begins. The orthodox religious leaders as well as conventional philosophers will be forced to abandon their way of thinking and accept the new norms or become extinct. The religions or the way of our living will be questioned time and again through the next 7 years to modify the existing norms.
The transit of Uranus through Pisces is particularly important for the United States as it directly influences that country in shaping her future.
Another important aspect of this transit is the terrorism. About 8 years ago (April 2001) Uranus entered in the sidereal Aquarius. Aquarius is an air sign ruled by Saturn. Among other demographic locations, Saturn rules the Middle-East. Since Uranus and Saturn do not get along well, the very entry of Uranus in Aquarius was marked by the September 11 attack on the twin towers in New York City and the Pentagon building in Washington, D.C. Now that Uranus will be leaving Aquarius and entering Pisces, there’s a good chance this transit will be marked by the capture and defeat of terrorists who attacked the United Sates. And therefore, I would not be surprised if Bin Laden is captured (dead or alive) very soon (between now and October, 2009).
For financial world this Uranus transit is very important since it will set the tone for financial recovery soon after April 2. World financial markets have likely to hit the bottom before April 2.
In scientific and technological areas expect big new ideas will find their way to manifest themselves into innovations and discoveries in fields of oceanography, medicine, biotechnology, health and fitness. New techniques of meditations will be invented. During the time when Uranus transits through Pisces, Pluto transits through Sagittarius, another spiritual sign ruled by Jupiter. Thus during next 7 years or so there will be two modern planets transiting through the spiritual signs resulting in a phenomenal growth in world spirituality. Mystic experiences will be norm than exceptions, and expansion of human awareness will certainly reach to unimaginable level. Science and spirituality will merge in a way we can never imagine, and for the first time in history the scientist will be involved in researching the origins and the source of development of subjective experiences.
Other important planetary configurations for May include Saturn-Mars quincunx (May 10-11), Neptune-Rahu ninefold quincunx (May 22 – June 3), Neptune-Uranus ninefold square (May 28 – June 25), and the auspicious Neptune-Jupiter conjunction (May 14 – July 23), Pluto-Neptune (April 26- May 20) and Uranus-Rahu (May 28 – June 5) ninefold trines.
The Saturn-Mars ninefold quincunx will be responsible for increased tension between India and Pakistan, social unrest, and political crisis in Pakistan, and man-made and natural calamities all around the world.
The Neptune-Rahu ninefold quincunx will manifest itself in increased covert activities in Russia and China.
The Neptune-Uranus ninefold square is likely to be responsible for rise in challenges in scientific and technological fields directly affecting the growth in rate of scientific and technological inventions and discoveries. United States and the Obama administration will be on defensive due to rise in new domestic and international challenges.
On a positive note, during the first half of the month, Pluto-Neptune ninefold trine will provide the positive lift to counter balance the negative forces of opposition and quincunxes (as mentioned above) by transforming the world atmosphere from anxiety to more at ease. During the second half of the month, the Neptune-Jupiter conjunction will be very auspicious for economical growth and increase in optimism for better future all around the world. The second half of the month is also good for religion and religious leaders from progress standpoint. New theosophical ideas are likely to receive favorable attention and as a result, they will likely to be implemented.
The countries that are most likely to be affected during this month would be: United States, Middle-East (Iraq, Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Palestine and Israel), Russia, China and India.
- United States of America:
President Obama and his administration:
For President Obama, his operating planet Ketu, continues to be in the twelfth house of his progressive chart and in the third house of his ninefold progressive chart till May 18. As a result, at least until May 18 or so, he is likely to enjoy fruits of his efforts in last couple of months. His other operating planet, Neptune, will continue its opposition to his natal Uranus during the entire May, and therefore, he will be dealing with international challenges where deception may take a center stage. In addition, the transiting Jupiter will appose his natal Uranus, and Jupiter being his major operating planet, he is likely to successfully deal with the most of the political crisis based on his moral conviction.
The Country:
The Neptune-Jupiter auspicious conjunction will manifest itself in the form of religious and moral changes. It’s a huge transformation process that will profoundly influence the social and moral norms which we are accustomed to. The Uranus-Jupiter ninefold square may become responsible for putting the religious leaders in the United States on defensive and under social pressure.
The Neptune-Uranus ninefold square, which occurs during the last week of the month will be responsible for increased challenges in areas of scientific and technology innovations. Also NASA may have to deal with crisis situation or with a new space travel related crisis.
· Russia: Except for the last week of the month, May is relatively positive for Russia for developing a better relationship with USA and Europe.. During the second half of the month a domestic crisis involving morality related issues is likely to emerge.
· Europe: The first half of the month is very positive for the continent with respect to its dealing with the world and with respect to its economical growth . During the second half of the month an emergence of religion based crisis is very likely.
· China, Japan, and Pacific-rim countries: The first three weeks looks to be very positive for China from economical progress standpoint. During the last week of the month the region may suffer from natural (or man-made) calamities.
· Middle East: The Saturn-Mars quincunx and Neptune-Rahu ninefold quincunx will contribute to increased violence in the Middle-East region (Iraq, Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, Afghanistan, and Pakistani region) during the second and the last week of May. During the first week, the Saturn-Mars quincunx will certainly make a mark of rising tension between India and Pakistan.
· Religion: During the second half of the month, the Neptune-Jupiter conjunction will be very auspicious for increase in optimism for better future all around the world. The second half of the month is also good for religion and religious leaders from progress standpoint. New theosophical ideas are likely to receive favorable attention and as a result, they will likely to be implemented.
· Natural and Man-made Calamities: The natural calamities like wildfires, severe weather conditions, natural as well as man made accidents are more likely to occur on May 10-11 and during 22-31.
Earthquakes: Based on our earthquake prediction model, the earthquake(s) of magnitude 7 or higher, if occur, are likely to occur on May 7-9, 14-26, 29 and 31. While man-made calamities may manifest themselves in terrorism, unrest, violence, accidents, and air crashes, the natural calamities are likely to include extreme weather conditions such as severe cold winters, and equally intensive droughts, hurricanes or typhoons, thunderstorms, earthquakes and fires.